Arthur Legge

Arthur Kaye Legge (25 October 1766-12 May 1835) was an Admiral of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography
Arthur Legge entered the British Royal Navy at a young age, serving on HMS Prince George alongside the young Prince William during the American Revolutionary War. By 1791 he was a Lieutenant and commanded HMS Shark, an independent command within the Channel Fleet. In 1793 he was promoted to Post Captain aboard HMS Niger during the French Revolutionary Wars and fought under Sir Richard Howe during the Glorious First of June battle in 1794.

With the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803, Legge returned to service as commander of HMS Revenge, a ship-of-the-line. During the Third Battle of Cape Finisterre he aided in the defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet and proceeded to steal Spanish merchant shipping off the coast. He later fought in the Mediterranean fleet in the Dardanelles Operation of 1807, where Britain attempted to pressure the Ottoman Empire into expelling Count Sebastiani (the French Ambassador) and stopping their agreement with France to only let French warships pass through the Dardanelles Strait. This failed, as did the Battle of Walcheren, which Legge also took part in. He became sick with malaria and was forced to return home, but in July 1810 he was made an Admiral.

In 1811, Legge and HMS Revenge were dispatched to Cadiz to protect Spain from France during the Peninsular War, and he performed well in this post. In September 1812 he returned home to command the forces guarding the River Thames, commanding HMS Thisbe until the end of the war. He gained several decorations in the aftermath of the conflict, and he died in 1835, a bachelor.